Ferrari and Force India launches

Hot on its heels will be the Force India VJM06, which is due to be uncovered at 10:15am at Silverstone. This is also being streamed live on the internet – head over here to watch it (it looks like you need to register so best to get there early).

And of course, keep an eye on F1 Fanatic for pictures of the cars and more from both launches.

Director of engineering Tim Goss: “We’ve been looking at such systems for a couple of seasons now and, as you have seen, we haven’t run one yet – so heavily pursuing it would not be the right description.”

“Within 10 laps of the car hitting the track, a team will know whether their product is more or less what they thought it was. Occasionally, though, a team will get a nasty surprise – as Ferrari did last year.”

“The interview is captured on page 43 of [Adam] Parr?óŌé¼Ōäós book. Yes, I did have a tape recorder with a red light. But no, I did not wear spurs into the lobby bar of the Four Seasons for the interview.”

Simply because you are a billionaire(‘s relative) does not mean you MUST throw away money like that, not even if you like champagne very much. That kind of mindless self-gratification is for people with an empty head and empty soul.

.’Razia had conversations with Marussia since last year and had been surprised by the announcement of Chilton , believing it would be no more chances. However, with the termination of Timo Glock in early January, the Brazilian returned to bet your chips in agreement with the team, which is based in England and commanded by a Russian automaker. The official announcement will be made āāon February 5, during the presentation of the new car, the circuit of Jerez de la Frontera (Spain).”

The story is word-for-word the same as the one that appeared in Globo. I suspect Razia’s webmaster has a script embedded in the page that searches news stories for his name and automatically re-posts them.

The site seems to have changed now, but Keith’s pic of it shows the Marussia themed banner. I very much doubt that a script created this. More likely someone’s made a new F1 version ready for launch and accidentally put it up before the announcement.

I don’t know the price of real estate in London, but i could get my house built (in a comfortable way) with all that money here in Peru.
In other news, can you bring any info about Razia’s profile to be in F1?

Sky, being owned by the Murdoch Lizardmen is hardly a trustworthy source of good honest journalism either is it? I wouldn’t believe a word that comes out of that insidious corporation! Demons of greed!!

I wouldn’t read too much in that Sky article either. Razia’s management said “no decision has been made”, something that could easily translate into “a decision has been made but we’re not willing to announce it just yet”.

To be honest, I think it’s only a financial factor deciding who gets that Marussia seat. The team is struggling and willing make the compromise of running two borderline-average rookie drivers in order to get a cash infusion that can keep them afloat through 2013. Considering Petrov has a good chance of staying with Caterham (the better backmarer) / never had any talks with Marussia, Senna’s sponsors prefer a DTM move rather than a move to a backmarker team in F1, Haryanto is already committed in GP2 and everyone else who is a free agent either doesn’t want to drive for a backmarker team or doesn’t have the money for it, I guess Razia is the obvious choice. If he gets the money, I’m absolutely positive that seat is his no matter what the rumours and statements say at this particular moment.

I wouldnāt read too much in that Sky article either. Raziaās management said āno decision has been madeā, something that could easily translate into āa decision has been made but weāre not willing to announce it just yetā.

I find it very hard to believe that any language can easily be translated into two separate, yet totally opposite meanings.

The Globo article reads like the typical reports that have come out of Brazil in recent years: it talks up the prospects of the Brazilian drivers, no matter how remote their chances might be. They will take the meanest whisper of speculations and present it as solid evidence of something happening. Just as the British media talk up the British drivers, so too does the Brazilian press talk up the Brazilian drivers. It wouldn’t surprise me if Razia does race for Marussia, but I’m not willing to accept the word of a Brazilian journalist quoting unnamed sources, because I’ve seen them do it plenty of times before, claiming driver moves will happen, and they never came about.

I find it very hard to believe that any language can easily be translated into two separate, yet totally opposite meanings.

@prisoner-monkeys – That was not to be taken literally. What I was trying to point out is that, just as journalists do (on a regular basis), the management of a driver or the PR department of a team are just as capable of serving us ********.

Just as you’re perfectly convinced that Globo article is bogus, I might be perfectly convinced there’s a deal shaping up or already in place with Razia and everyone is keeping their mouths shut, for one reason or another. Both these things have their precedents so I think I’m perfectly entitled to form viable opinions around that fact, whether it’s regarding Razia or whoever else.

Anyone else getting the feeling that this year in F1 is going to be the best season for judging driver skill amongst the galaxy of stars we have available? With the regulations being locked before 2014 and arguably the strongest driver line up in the last decade of the sport the differences between the cars may be the most finite in many years to come as the development race starts from next year.

I for one am really looking forward to seeing which driver comes out on top before we head into the ERS era. My pick is Alonso.

My optimistic side agrees with this, however, my pessimistic side sees teams like Mercedes, Mclaren, Ferrari and Williams probably concentrating all their efforts for 2014 since that will be a major change, and write off 2013… My pessimistic side says Red Bull will dominate again this year, probably Lotus closing by- they will gamble a lot this season since they have a good, solid base and look to establish themselves as a winning brand. Mclaren and Ferrari will be fighting Lotus and Mercedes will have one or two spots of brilliance from Lewis in a rainy day, but well be mainly in the same spot (with better qualifying) as this year. Sauber might be concentrating on 2014 already. Force India will probably improve- another team that needs to show results this year. Catherham, Marussia will stay back there.

Yes, I think that Vettel will be getting his 4th title this year, however I think it will end with this year, Red Bull have been the masters of the current regulations, but every time the rules change, a new (or old) star emmerges. For example in 2007-2008, Ferrari and McLaren were the ‘masters’ and Red Bull were nowhere, to add insult to ingury they were beaten by their ‘B-Team’ Toro Rosso in the Constructors standings.

I certainly think is true of Hamilton. Everyone agrees he has a lot of speed but at times he lacks maturity and as such isn’t considered as complete as Alonso. This is his chance to change that perception.